Citizen climate petition advances, after state board approves further study of cap-and-trade program

As the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania, Marie Cusick covers energy and environmental issues for public radio stations statewide. She’s also part of NPR’s energy and environment team, which coordinates coverage between the network and select member station reporters around the country. Her work frequently airs on NPR shows including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. Since 2012, Marie has closely followed the political, social, environmental, and economic effects of Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom. Her work has been recognized at the regional and national levels– honors include a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and a national Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. Previously, Marie was a multimedia reporter for WMHT in Albany, New York and covered technology for the station’s statewide public affairs TV show, New York NOW. In 2018, she became StateImpact’s first FAA-licensed drone pilot.

After that review is complete, the DEP will make a recommendation to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) about whether to adopt, reject, or modify it.

The ramifications of the petition could be politically significant– allowing major climate policy to be implemented without new legislation.

Cap-and-trade is a market-based system that sets a firm, overall limit on emissions. Companies can then buy and sell allowances to pollute certain amounts. California’s program applies to greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, as well as to other major air pollution sources, the import of electricity, and the sale of natural gas, heating oil, and gasoline.

Joe Minott, executive director of the Clean Air Council, said climate change action is urgent, citing increasingly dire reports that have been published recently by theUnited Nations andU.S. government.

“Time is running out,” Minott said.

His group filed the petition along with 191 other entities—including municipal governments, faith-based organizations, renewable energy companies, and climate researchers.

“This is probably the most cost-effective and efficient program you could implement, that would benefit society,” he said.

The emissions cap would start with a budget, assuming a three percent reduction from 2016. After that, the cap would be reduced by three percent a year and hit net zero by 2052.

The petitioners say their plan will achieve the necessary reductions scientists call for, and they argue Pennsylvania has not only the legal authority, but a constitutional duty, to address climate change. John Dernbach, a prominent legal scholar who directs the Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener University Law School, helped draft the proposal.His research helped to revive Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, which was added to the state constitution in 1971.

“Every citizen of the state of Pennsylvania has an explicit right to a clean environment, that is set out in the constitution,” said Dernbach. “That is the same right as they have to free speech, freedom of worship, and even to bear arms.”

A coalition of business groups, including the Pennsylvania Chamber and trade organizations representing oil and gas companies, expressed concern over the petition. In a letter to the board, they urged members to review its implications further before voting.

“It’s an affront to the General Assembly,” Metcalfe said of the petition. “I don’t think there’s any evidence this regulation reshaping the economy would have any measurable impact on the climate.”

Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has called climate change one of the biggest issues facing the state. Heissued an executive order in January calling on the state to cut emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050.

The cap-and-trade petition could allow his administration to implement climate policy through the executive branch, largely bypassing the Republican-led legislature. DEP is expected to inform the EQB about how it intends to evaluate the petition at its next meeting on June 18.